


epilogue

by starlight_sugar



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Domestic, Jossed, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-15 23:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9262955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlight_sugar/pseuds/starlight_sugar
Summary: The Bureau closes. Magnus moves in. Eventually, Magnus moves on.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This is a work by a fan for fans, not affiliated with MaxFun or the McElroys.  
> Content warnings: A couple of allusions to Julia's death, less as a plot point and more as a characterization point.  
> Canon notes: this is canon compliant up through The Suffering Game. definitely not past that.  
> While the title is pretty self-explanatory, this fic is also named after [this song.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFz98DmalbI)
> 
> With all my love to Tam, who named the dog.

Two weeks after the Bureau finds the last relic and the subsequent shitstorm blows over, the Director announces that the moon base will be closing. “The Bureau no longer needs the space,” she says, and sighs, looking tired. “The Bureau no longer needs to carry on operations, here or anywhere.”

Merle is one of the first off the moon, on his way to Neverwinter and a family that Magnus has only met twice. He packs his things, keeps his Stone of Far Speech around his neck, and promises to visit Magnus once he’s settled in.

“I should be promising to visit you,” Magnus says, because Merle is settled, has somewhere to go once he’s planetside. He has people waiting for him. Magnus doesn’t.

Merle just smiles like he understands what Magnus isn’t saying. He might, that old bastard. “I’m sure I’ll come see you,” he says, and then he says the rest of his goodbyes, and then he’s gone.

After that it’s an endless parade of bubbles off the moon and trying to keep track of who’s going where. Johann gets a mobile tank for the Voidfish and heads down to the coast, says something about recording folk songs and smiles as he goes. Carey, Killian, and Noelle all leave together, talking about finding families. The Fantasy Costco closes its doors without so much as a word from Garfield. It even hurts saying goodbye to Brad, even though Magnus barely knows the guy.

Taako and Angus leave together. They’re nearly the last to go, but it’s still the hardest goodbye of them all. Angus cries when he hugs Magnus, just before he gets in the cannonball.

“Hey, no, Ango, we’ll be in touch,” Magnus says, trying to pass off the tremor in his voice as a laugh and not something inside him breaking apart. “I’ll visit you at whatever super-smart school you end up at. I’ll teach all your fancy friends how to carve wood.”

Angus sniffles loudly. “I promise I’ll make fancy friends so you can teach them,” he says, and backs away to wipe at his eyes. “I’ll make sure.”

“I know you will,” Magnus says, and straightens up.

“I’m not gonna cry,” Taako warns him, before Magnus is fully turned to face him. He’s watching them, arms folded across his chest, not quite meeting Magnus’s eyes. “So don’t get your hopes up about that.”

“But you’re still hugging me,” Magnus announces, and wastes no time in grabbing Taako and pulling him into the tightest embrace possible.

“I think this only counts as you hugging me,” Taako mutters, but he winds his arms around Magnus’s waist. “It’s going to be weird without you snoring all night.”

“It’s gonna be weird when you’re not poking around in the kitchen at two in the morning.” Magnus props his chin more firmly on Taako’s shoulder. “I’ll visit you guys, once you’re settled in.”

“Yeah, you will. We’ll track you down if you don’t, and I’m moving in with the literal grim reaper.” Taako pulls back just enough to arch an eyebrow; Magnus decides that he won’t point out that Taako’s eyes are red-rimmed now. “You can’t hide from the grim reaper.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Magnus answers. And he never wants to let go but he takes a step back anyways, and another, and another until he’s standing by Avi at the controls.

Angus waves goodbye, and Taako grins one last time, and they climb into the cannonball. Magnus closes his eyes so he doesn’t have to watch them leave.

“Mark,” Avi says, and flips a switch. Magnus can hear the launch, the boom, the sound of the hatch sliding closed. He still doesn’t open his eyes until Avi says, half-hesitant, “I would’ve thought you’d be planetside by now.

“I don’t know where I’d go,” Magnus says. He doesn’t bother keeping his voice light; Avi can definitely see the tears on his cheeks. When he finally opens his eyes, Avi is looking at him sympathetically, and Magnus forces a half-smile. “Kind of a side effect of living full-time on the moon, right?”

“Right.” Avi tilts his head, looking thoughtful. “Did you know I own a house?”

“Do you?”

“Yeah, it gets claustrophobic up here sometimes. All the same people, all the time, nowhere to get away.” He shrugs. “I needed somewhere that I could go if it ever got too much. It’s not too far from neverwinter.”

“Huh,” Magnus says. He might be misreading the situation, but this doesn’t sound like casual chatting. “Does it ever get lonely?”

Avi slants a smile at him. “It won’t once you move in. Assuming you’d want to.”

He’d be near Merle. He wouldn’t be far from Taako, either, not too far to visit. And he’d be with Avi, someone he knows, likes, trusts. He’s not going to get a better offer than this.

“Yeah,” Magnus says, and watches Avi’s smile widen. “I want to.”

#

Avi’s house is massive. Like, Magnus is amazed that Avi could stand to live there by himself with all these empty rooms. Like, does Avi secretly have a giant family fortune that Magnus doesn’t know about. Like, is Avi secretly in the mafia, because this is a little ridiculous.

Avi laughs when Magnus asks him about the mafia. “Nah, it’s just that this isn’t prime real estate. Everyone wants to live in Neverwinter, not a few miles away. And besides, this way I have plenty of space.”

Plenty of space is an understatement. Magnus was expecting a couch to crash on, or maybe a spare bedroom if he was lucky. Avi gives him a bedroom, an entire room to use as a closet, and a room that he offers up as a workshop, in case the pocket workshop doesn’t have enough room.

“Are you sure you’re not secretly rich?” Magnus demands, looking at Avi’s massive, fancy kitchen. Taako would love it here, although that’s not a thought Magnus is willing to entertain for longer than it takes to flit in and out of his head. Taako’s not here, Avi is. Does Avi cook? That might a question worth knowing the answer to.

“I’m not rich,” Avi promises, bringing Magnus back into the moment. “I just needed somewhere for me. And now for you, too.”

Something guilty settles in Magnus’s stomach. Avi got a big house to get away from people, and suddenly Magnus is there taking up a third of the rooms. “Thank you for letting me move in,” he starts, a little uncertainly.

“Thank you for moving in,” Avi answers breezily. “It was nice having this place as a getaway, but I wouldn’t want to be here alone permanently.”

“You wouldn’t?”

“Nah. This was never home, the moon was. We’ll just have to find a way to make this home now.”

Magnus has had a lot of homes throughout his life, shared with a handful of different people. This is no Raven’s Roost, and it’s no private room on the moon. But it’s Avi. That counts for a lot.

“We’ll make it home,” he echoes, and Avi smiles and helps him unpack.

#

Avi doesn’t just cook. He cooks well.

“Oh, thank the gods, I can barely make a peanut butter sandwich,” Magnus admits, and Avi laughs so hard he almost falls over. Magnus laughs, too, but mostly he watches Avi laugh.

#

“So,” Merle says, and does this _thing_ with his eyebrow that Magnus has never seen him do before. “Avi.”

“...Avi,” Magnus repeats, trying to put the same deliberate emphasis on the name.

Magnus has kept in touch, writing letters and using his Stone of Far Speech, but Avi wanted to renovate a couple of the rooms and Magnus needed the time to get used to being home again anyways. This is the first time they’ve had guests over in the last month. Taako and Merle had jumped on the invitation over for dinner about as soon as Magnus was done offering, and then Merle had materialized two hours early to help Magnus cook, “because Taako will give us shit if it’s anything other than perfect.” Magnus is counting the minutes until Avi gets back with the rest of their groceries and throws them out of the kitchen so he can make an actually-perfect dinner, but he knows that he can keep Merle busy chopping vegetables. That’s pretty hard to fuck up.

Merle narrows his eyes at Magnus. “Don’t play dumb.”

“I’m not playing dumb.”

“Then don’t be dumb.”

Magnus points his carrot-chopping knife at Merle. “That’s hypocrisy.”

“Maybe,” Merle allows. “But come on. _Avi._ ” He does that eyebrow thing again, except with more emphasis and a lot more panache.

“Merle, you’re scaring me. Use your words.”

Merle sighs. “Are you guys dating or something?”

Magnus blinks. “No?”

“You sure about that?”

“Am I- yes, I’m fully sure that I’m single right now, thanks.”

Merle lifts his hands in surrender. “All right, I’m just saying, you guys moved in awfully quick. It’s okay if you are.”

“I’m sure it is,” Magnus says, and chops a carrot a little more viciously than he intended. “No, Avi just kindly let me move in. Because he’s my friend.”

“Oh,” Merle says, and then with a truly obnoxious level of shit-eating knowingness, “ohhhhh.”

“Don’t you ‘oh’ me, old man.”

“I’m not ‘oh’ing anybody, I’m just saying oh. Can’t a guy say oh in the peace of someone else’s kitchen?”

“No, absolutely not.” The telltale heavy creak of the front door echoes through the house, and Magnus sets his knife down. “Avi, tell Merle to get out of the kitchen.”

“Merle, get out of our kitchen,” Avi calls. The door slams shut behind him. “Why is Merle in our kitchen?”

“He didn’t believe me when I said you could cook, so he wanted to get dinner started.”

“Dude, really?” Avi appears in the doorway, arms loaded with groceries, looking affronted. “I make a mean beef stew. What are you guys doing?”

“Prep work. I’m cutting carrots, Merle’s cutting celery.”

Avi looks warily between their cutting boards as he sets the groceries on the counter. “All right, that doesn’t look terrible.”

“Ha!” Merle grins smugly at Magnus. “And you thought I couldn’t do it.”

“Oh, sorry, I meant Magnus’s looks pretty good,” Avi says without missing a beat. “The celery looks like shit.”

“You look like shit,” Merle mumbles.

Magnus rolls his eyes. He means to drag Merle out of the kitchen by any means necessary, but somewhere in the eye-roll his eyes land on Avi, and then he can’t look away. “Did you find anything good in town?”

“Wine, beef, all that good shit.” Avi grins. “We’re about to throw the best dinner party that the Neverwinter suburbs have ever seen.”

“Hell yeah, we are!” Magnus reaches a hand out, and Avi high-fives him obligingly. Magnus can’t help but grin back at him.

Merle clears his throat. “You gonna give me a house tour, or do I only get to see the kitchen?”

“Just the kitchen,” Magnus says, but he turns and ignores the knowing look that Merle is giving him. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”

By the time they make their way through every room and back to the kitchen Taako is already there, leaning on the counter and watching Avi cook intently. Kravitz is also there, one hand resting on the small of Taako’s back. He notices them first. “Hello again, Magnus. Merle.”

“Hey, Krav,” Magnus says, and tries not to snicker at the way Taako straightens up so fast that Magnus gets whiplash from looking at him.

Taako glares at him. “Oh, I see, the boyfriend gets a hello and I don’t?”

“I didn’t say hello to the boyfriend,” Merle says.

“And I’m not saying hello to you,” Taako mutters, but he saunters over towards Magnus. “So are you gonna show me around too, or do I just have to imagine your house?”

“I missed you too,” Magnus mutters, before he can stop himself. It’s more sincere than he means it to be.

Taako doesn’t soften, per se, but he juts his chin out. “That wasn’t a real answer, Mags.”

“Ooh, Mags,” Avi chimes in, flashing Magnus a particularly shit-eating grin over his shoulder. “Can I call you Mags now?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Call him Maggie,” Taako finishes. Avi gives him a thumbs-up, but before Magnus can protest Taako grabs him by the elbow. “House tour, come on, let’s start upstairs, very far away from the kitchen.”

Magnus looks over at Kravitz. “Did you want a tour too?”

“You can show me later, if you’d like.”

“He’s giving us time to catch up,” Taako stage-whispers. “He thinks he’s being sweet.”

“I think you’re being intentionally difficult, darling,” Kravitz says dryly. “Go, I can talk with Merle.”

“I didn’t volunteer for that,” Merle says indignantly.

“Mmm, that’s too bad, we’re leaving!” Taako yanks on Magnus’s elbow so hard that he stumbles. “Come on, where are your stairs?”

“Why do we need to go upstairs?”

Taako gives Magnus a withering look. “So we can _talk._ Come on.” He finds the stairs easily and leads Magnus up. “Which room’s yours?”

“Second on the left.”

Taako drags Magnus in and kicks the door shut behind him. He turns to survey magnus, hands on hips. “So.”

“Taako, what the fuck?”

Taako lifts one eyebrow, in a weirdly deliberate move. Magnus has enough time to think _oh, gods_ before Taako says, “Avi, really?”

Magnus groans. “Not you too!”

“No, hey, I’m just saying, I didn’t think he was your type, but you’ve been living together for a month so he must be doing something right.”

“I’m not- we’re not-” Magnus lifts both of his hands, palms out. “Slow down.”

“Consider me slowed.” Taako tilts his head. “What’s grinding your gears, Mango?”

If they’re having this conversation, Magnus isn’t going to be standing up for it, so he plops down on the edge of his bed. Taako sits next to him and looks at him expectantly. Magnus sighs. “I moved in with Avi because I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Bullshit, we would’ve put you up in our spare bedroom.”

“No, I mean-” Magnus bites back another sigh. “You left the moon and you went to your house that you bought with your boyfriend, and Merle went to his house on the beach with his kids. And both of those are great for you guys, because you had people who could help you settle in. I wanted to settle in too.”

Taako sighs and drops his forehead to Magnus’s shoulder. “And that’s why it took a month for you to invite us over,” he guesses. “You’re not great at being alone.”

“I’m fucking terrible at it,” Magnus says candidly. “But it helps that Avi’s here, so it’s not like I’m alone-alone.”

“And we’re back to the important part, which is-” Taako sits back upright and looks at Magnus seriously. “You guys aren’t together?”

“We aren’t.”

“Is this about…” Taako’s eyes flick deliberately to Magnus’s left hand and back.

Magnus grimaces. “I mean, kind of?”

“Makes sense,” Taako says. Magnus knows he doesn’t really get it, because he’s said as much before, but he appreciates that Taako’s trying. “So what’s it like living with Avi? Lots of booze?”

“I mean, we have a lot of booze in the house,” Magnus says, because holy shit, they have a _lot_ of booze in the house. “But it’s not like we get drunk together every night.”

“What, only on alternating Thursdays?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Magnus grins. “I dunno, it’s just… nice. He and I are getting a reputation in town for fixing things. I fix the wood, he fixes the metal, and together we can solve, like, eighty percent of furniture breakages in Neverwinter.”

“I’ll break something so I have an excuse to visit you,” Taako promises.

“Oh, gods, please don’t do that,” Magnus says. Taako’s grin widens. “No, Taako, seriously, don’t break things, you don’t have to do that, just come visit, leave your furniture in one piece-”

“I’m going to break _so much shit,_ ” Taako says giddily. “Show me your workshop, I get the feeling that I’m going to spend a lot of time in there soon.”

“No, don’t break things,” Magnus moans, but he gets to his feet and pulls Taako to his anyways. “Don’t break things, Taako.”

“I’ll do what I damn well please if it means I can visit my best friend,” Taako says haughtily, and Magnus’s heart stops for a second. Taako doesn’t normally do casual affection, not so openly, and Magnus wants to say something in response to that, but Taako doesn’t even pause before he marches out of the bedroom. “Come on, tour guide, show me where you live. I showed you mine, now you have to show me yours.”

“Yeah,” Magnus says, too emotionally winded to think of anything else to say. “Yeah, let’s go.”

#

It’s not until the next afternoon - because of course dinner turned into talking turned into Merle passing out on the couch and Taako half-asleep on Magnus’s shoulder, and then they had to cook breakfast and it was a whole fucking thing - that Avi says, casually, “So Kravitz thinks we’re dating.”

Magnus groans and pauses the movie they’re watching on Fantasy Netflix. “Seriously? The grim reaper is asking about our relationship?”

“He’s your friend,” Avi points out. “So technically it’s your fault.”

“I did nothing wrong,” Magnus says. “I don’t know why they’re asking.”

It’s not that Magnus doesn’t understand the line of questioning, because he does. Of course he does. He moves in with a guy, they run the world’s most casual joint business, they throw a miniature dinner party together. And Avi is quickly climbing up the list of Magnus’s favorite people, which is impressive because he was pretty high on the list to begin with. He’s clever, and he laughs at Magnus’s jokes, and he always points out other people’s dogs when they’re in town together and Magnus doesn’t notice them at first. There are worse fates. He just can’t.

Avi doesn’t call him on his blatant lie, which he appreciates. “Because they’re nosy fucks,” he snorts, and shifts a little bit on the couch.

“Yeah, but they’re our favorite nosy fucks,” Magnus says, and waits for the corner of Avi’s mouth to tip into a smile like he knows it will. And then, because he apparently likes ruining the nice things like Avi’s smile, he says, “I can tell them to stop, if you want.”

Avi’s smile vanishes, as expected, and he gives Magnus a searching look. “Do you want them to stop?”

“Nah, they’re just being dicks.” Magnus pauses. “I mean, it’s not- you’re great, and all, but I’m not…”

“You’re not?”

Magnus shrugs helplessly. He told Avi about- about before, once, when he was more than a little drunk and couldn’t remember where he kept his wedding ring. Avi hadn’t treated him differently afterwards, other than making him extra breakfast the next day, and that could’ve just been a hangover thing. Magnus likes to think it was just a hangover thing.

“It’s,” Magnus starts, and then, “things,” and then he can’t think of anything else to say, so he finishes with another “I’m just not.”

“Not ready,” Avi guesses.

And Magnus doesn’t know what he’s not ready for, whether it’s the thought of dating again or dating Avi specifically, but he’s definitely not ready for this conversation.

“I think so,” he says.

“Makes sense,” Avi says, and reaches over to wrestle the remote out of Magnus’s hands. Magnus lets him, and Avi hits play and sprawls against Magnus’s shoulder. “It’s okay, though. If you’re not ready.”

Magnus swallows. “I’ll let you know if I ever am,” he says, and he can barely force the words out of a suddenly-raw throat. He hears Avi’s breath catch and turns away, just enough that he can’t see a reaction. He needs the deniability, the chance to pretend he doesn’t know what he’s just promised. He needs things to stay the same for now.

#

The next big change is actually Taako’s fault, and definitely not Magnus’s at all. Or, well, it’s something that Magnus has thought about, but not that he was going to do anything about. Except then-

“Your problem is that your house is too big,” Taako says, not for the first time. “You gotta fill that thing up.”

“By buying more clothes,” Magnus says flatly. “That’s your angle for getting me to go shopping with you?”

“I don’t know why I need an angle to begin with, but that’s as good of one as any. Your house is too big, and if you’re not going to fill it up by adopting half a dozen dogs or building furniture for every room, then why not buy more clothes?”

Magnus almost drops his Stone of Far Speech. “I have to go right now, immediately.”

“To buy clothes?”

“No! To see if Avi wants a dog.” Magnus cups a hand over the stone. He knows Avi’s home but not which room he’s in, so he picks a direction at random and shouts, “Avi!”

“What’s up?” Avi calls back.

Magnus starts down that hallway. “Do you like dogs?”

There’s a beat of silence, and then Avi leans out of the door to his bedroom, looking bemused. “Do I like dogs?”

“If you’re doing this, I’m leaving,” Taako announces, muffled by Magnus’s hand.

“All right, bye, Taako,” Magnus says quickly. “Avi?”

“Bye, Taako,” Avi says, but he arches an eyebrow at Magnus. “Is this a general opinion question?”

“Well,” Magnus says. “Sort of. What is your opinion on owning a dog?”

“One dog?”

“We can start with one, yeah.”

Avi blinks. “Wow, okay, many dogs. Lots of dogs?”

“Enough dogs.”

“I need a number, Magnus.”

“We can start with one,” Magnus repeats. “Everything after one is negotiable.”

“Is the first one not negotiable?”

“Well, it is, it’s your house.”

“Our house,” Avi says, like he always does.

Magnus ignores him, like he always does, because there’s a level of _something_ in owning a house together that scares him. “You can pick the dog,” he says plaintively. “But I mean, this place is huge, and it’d be nice, right? Having a dog.”

“I’ve never had a dog before, I don’t know how to train one.”

“I’ll show you. I’ll train you and the dog!”

Avi sighs, but he’s smiling. “Yeah, all right. Let’s get a dog.”

“Yes!” Magnus bounds down the hallway and picks Avi up, swinging him around in a circle. “We’re gonna get a dog, we’re gonna get a-”

“Magnus, oh my gods,” Avi says into his shoulder. “We can get a dog, please put me down.”

Magnus sets Avi down immediately, face growing hot. “Yup, sorry, sorry, I just- got a little excited, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” Avi laughs. He pushes his hair back with one hand and looks up at Magnus, and he _smiles._ He smiles like there’s no one he’d rather be looking at.

Magnus might not be ready yet, for whatever they’re moving towards here, but he thinks he can at least admit to himself that he wants to be. If that’s not progress, then he doesn’t know what is.

“We can go to the shelter tomorrow,” Magnus decides, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I haven’t been yet, I don’t know what our options are, but we should talk about things like how much space it’ll need and how old and-”

“Whoa, hold on.” Avi leans forward and rests his hands on Magnus’s shoulders. “First of all, the answer to how much space is infinite space, nobody lives within a mile of us. Second of all, why are we waiting until tomorrow?”

“Avi,” Magnus says, very seriously, “you’re my hero. You are the greatest housemate in the entire world. Or on the moon.”

“All I said was I’d adopt a dog with you.”

“That’s all you needed to say.”

Avi snorts. “You’re easy to please, huh?”

“I’m the easiest to please! I’m gonna go find a room for the dog’s things.”

“What things?”

“All the clothes I’m going to buy from Fantasy Petsmart, for one.”

Avi looks horrified. “Are we going to be those people? We’re going to be _those_ dog owners?”

“Yep,” Magnus says, because they absolutely are. “I’m gonna spoil the shit out of this dog, I can’t wait to meet it.”

#

The dog knocks over Angus the first time he comes over.

“Bartholomew, no!” Magnus yells, but it’s too late. The dog is already licking at Angus’s face, and Angus is making weird noises that might be scared, might be laughing. “Get off Ango, come on.”

“He seems nice,” Angus says, a little uncertainly, but he pushes the dog off himself firmly. “And… friendly?”

“He’s real friendly,” Magnus agrees as the dog trots over to his side. “Also, welcome home from school, don’t go in the kitchen.”

“I already warned him,” Kravitz says, offering Angus a hand and pulling him to his feet. “Who else is coming?”

“Merle, Killian and Noelle, maybe Johann. Carey’s busy with something, but she said Killian’s going to bring your present.”

Angus goes pink. “I- I don’t need any presents, really. it’s enough that you’re throwing me a homecoming party, and that Taako and Avi are cooking-”

“Are you going to tell Carey no?”

“No,” Angus admits. “And sir?”

“Yeah, Ango?”

“Why is your dog named Bartholomew?”

“It was named Henley when I was here two weeks ago.” Kravitz frowns. “You still haven’t picked a name?”

“We’re working on it,” Magnus says, and then raises his voice. “I have a good feeling about Bartholomew, though.”

As expected, Avi pokes his head out of the kitchen just enough to glare at Magnus. “We’re not naming our fucking dog Bartholomew.”

“Olaf?”

“No way.” Avi’s eyes slide over to Angus, and he grins. “Hey, Ango, welcome home. Dinner’s gonna be in twenty, so until then just tell Magnus all of his dog names are bad.”

“Okay, sir,” Angus chirps. Avi flashes him a thumbs-up and retreats to the kitchen.

“That’s bullshit!” Magnus protests. “What if I have a good name idea?”

“You suggested Bartholomew,” Kravitz says tonelessly, as if that’s argument enough. It probably is.

“What about Garlic?”

Angus and Kravitz shake their heads in unison.

“Elvis.”

Another head shake. Magnus sighs. “Kalamazoo.”

Angus wrinkles his nose. “Sir, I think even you know that’s a stinker.”

“Aw, come on, we can call him Kal for short!”

“The judge has spoken,” Kravitz intones somberly. Angus grins. “Try again, Magnus.”

#

It becomes their post-dinner game: Name That Dog. Most everyone is a little tipsy, and by the third round of the game not even Angus is taking it seriously anymore. Magnus’s only consolation is that everyone hates Avi’s name ideas just as much as they hate his.

“Okay, okay,” Killian says, leaning forward, staring at the dog intently. “Adonis.”

“Adonis?” Taako repeats. “Nah, this is a _dog,_ we’re not naming him Adonis.”

“It’s not your dog,” Avi starts.

“I’m also vetoing Adonis,” Magnus says quickly. Avi and Killian both glare at him, but he shrugs. “Noelle, your turn.”

Noelle’s servos whir as she tilts her head to one side, studying the dog carefully. “Bartimaeus?”

“Too serious,” Avi says. Magnus nods his agreement. “Johann?”

“Sebastian,” Johann says.

“I tried Sebastian a few days ago,” Magnus admits. “Avi said no. Kravitz?”

“Spot,” Kravitz says, completely deadpan.

“Krav, my man,” Magnus says. “For the third time. Dude. This dog doesn’t have spots.”

“Oh, damn,” Kravitz says, and looks down at Angus. “Think you can do better than Spot?”

“Ramanujan,” Angus suggests. “He did some math stuff, I think he was pretty neat.”

“Dogs can’t do math,” Avi says apologetically. “It’d feel like we’re giving him a standard he can’t live up to.”

Angus nods in understanding. “So should I pick a famous dog next time?”

“If you can think of one, sure.” Magnus turns to Taako. “Your turn.”

“Martini,” Taako says.

“For the dog or for you?”

Taako rolls his eyes. “For the dog. You can call him Marty.”

“What’s the point in nicknaming a dog,” Merle says in exasperation. “Just name it Will and get it over with.”

“No to both of those,” Avi says. “What about Silas?”

“Ooh, I like Silas,” Noelle says.

Magnus looks at the dog and tries to imagine a label over his head that says “Silas.” He can’t do it. “What about Stardust?”

“Star,” Avi suggests.

Taako groans. “Why’re you naming the dog after a star when we all lived on the gods-damn moon?”

Magnus looks at the dog. The dog looks back at him. He does look like a moon dog.

“Oh my god,” Avi murmurs. When Magnus turns to him he’s staring at the dog like he’s seen the holy grail, and he turns to face Magnus, looking awestruck. “Moon?”

“Luna,” Magnus says.

“Luna,” Avi agrees, and they both look at the dog. At Luna. “Welcome to the family, Luna.”

Magnus does his absolute best not to stop breathing at the word “family.” He doesn’t really succeed, but Avi doesn’t seem to notice, so he’ll count it as a win.

“Can I still call him Will?” Merle asks after a second, and doesn’t bother complaining when Johann throws a handful of popcorn at him.

#

Magnus is up first the next morning. For the first time since they moved in, every single room is full, and gods damn it, Magnus is going to make breakfast for his friends. And not burn the house down in the process.

The kitchen is sun-warm, bright in the morning light, and Magnus hums something to himself as he starts finding ingredients. Julia taught him to make pancakes once, or at least tried very hard. He wasn’t great at it, but he’d ended up with a batch that was at least edible. And between living with Avi and Taako he can at least guess at what things not to do, probably.

 _Julia would like Avi,_ he thinks, not for the first time, but this time doesn’t hollow out his chest or make him want to lie down and cry. This time it’s just the truth. Julia would like Avi, if nothing else because he’s the reason Magnus knows anything about cooking. “He succeeded where I failed,” she’d say, with a laugh. He lets himself hear it, lets the memory of her voice echo in his head as he measures out the flour. He misses her, but she’d be happy for him. For this.

“Are you cooking?” Avi says behind him.

Magnus smiles down at the bowl of ingredients. “I might be.”

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

“I definitely sort of do.”

“Mmmhm,” Avi says. “How about I help make sure you definitely actually do?”

“That would probably be a good idea.” Magnus turns around and offers the bowl of flour and baking powder, which Avi takes and sets on the counter behind him. “Do you know how to make pancakes?”

Avi snorts. “Oh, do I know how to make pancakes. That’s cute, Burnsides.”

“I’m just making sure I haven’t discovered a secret glaring gap in your cooking knowledge.”

“Do _you_ know how to make pancakes?”

“I used to,” Magnus says. He considers telling Avi about Julia trying to teach him, but he decides not to. Maybe sometime later. He wants to, though. He wants Avi to know about her. He’d like to say he doesn’t know what that means, but he knows. He’s known for a while.

Avi’s quiet in the kitchen, carefully precise, measures everything out. He shows Magnus what to do, and when Magnus gets things right he can feel Avi’s delight. The pancake batter is ready in a matter of minutes.

“We’re gonna need more than just this,” Magnus says, looking down at their first massive bowl of batter. “Killian alone can eat half of this.”

“Does Kravitz eat?”

“I think he… can?” Magnus makes a face. “I don’t know, he eats when Taako cooks, but that might just be because it’s Taako.”

“We’ll make a couple more batches,” Avi decides. “You wanna do the honors?”

“I would love to.” Magnus picks up a measuring cup and scoops up enough batter to fill it. “Here’s to old friends.”

“Old friends,” Avi agrees. Magnus can feel him smiling as he pours the first pancake on the griddle. “We should have people over more often.”

“Mm, yeah, or we could just get more dogs.” Magnus turns around in time to see Avi laugh, nearly doubling over with the bowl of pancake batter still in his hands. “Avi, don’t drop that!”

“It’s fine,” Avi laughs, still trying to catch his breath. The batter is sliding around dangerously in the bowl.

“No, you’re gonna drop it, I can’t let you.” Magnus reaches for the bowl just as Avi stumbles forward, still giggling. His hands land on top of Avi’s, the bowl of batter balanced between them.

Avi grins up at Magnus, eyes bright. “What’re you gonna do to stop me?”

Magnus can’t breathe, but he smiles anyways. “I’m ready to find out,” he says, and leans in.

Avi meets him in the middle and kisses him. It’s awkward, with the bowl between them, but Avi more than makes up for it with enthusiasm, pushing Magnus until they stumble back against the counter together. Magnus lifts a hand to twine his fingers into Avi’s hair, pull him up closer.

After a second Avi pulls away, and Magnus loosens his grip, letting his fingers run through Avi’s hair. Avi presses his forehead against Magnus’s and huffs out, “Fuck this fucking _bowl._ ”

“Counter,” Magnus says, a little frantically. Avi maneuvers the bowl so it’s in one hand and reaches behind Magnus to set it on the counter, pressing the length of his body up against Magnus’s in the process. Magnus gasps, and he can see the flicker of a smirk on Avi’s face before Avi leans in and kisses him again, more insistently this time. Both of Avi’s hands trail down Magnus’s biceps, and Magnus settles his free hand on Avi’s waist and lets the world fade to the two of them.

And then.

Magnus pulls back after a couple minutes. Avi tries to follow him back, whining softly when he loses contact, but Magnus frowns. “Do you smell that?”

Avi sniffs the air and his eyes widen. “The pancake.”

“Our only pancake!” Magnus turns to look at the griddle , where the only pancake sitting on it is now smoldering and blackened. “Aw, man.”

“We should probably do something about that,” Avi muses. Magnus is about to agree when one of Avi’s hands skates up his arm, feather-light, and all of Magnus’s thoughts fly out of his head. Avi quirks an eyebrow at him. “So we should talk about this.”

“We should,” Magnus agrees. “But we should probably make pancakes first, because people will be waking up soon, and I’d rather have this talk without the risk of being overheard.”

Avi sighs and looks away. “I hate it when you’re right,” he mutters.

“But,” Magnus says, feeling brave, and Avi’s eyes snap to his. “I know we have more to talk about and that’s important, but my first impression is a yes.”

Avi smiles hopefully. "Yeah?"

“Yeah,” Magnus says, and he’s not sure what else to say. Instead he moves a hand to Avi’s face, sweeps a thumb across Avi’s cheekbone, waits.

“Magnus,” Avi starts, but before he can say anything else, there’s a bark. A loud one. When Magnus turns, Luna is staring at the both of them - or, probably more accurately, at the still-burning pancake behind them.

“Fuck, we really should clean that up,” Avi sighs. “Or else Luna’s just going to keep barking.”

“We adopted a really bratty dog,” Magnus says, just to see Avi’s eyes crinkle at the corners. “It wouldn’t be home without him, though.”

“Yeah,” Avi says, so warm that Magnus feels like he’s melting. “He makes our home a home.”

It’s another couple of minutes before they get around to throwing away the burnt pancake. Luna is the only one who really minds.

**Author's Note:**

> Luna is a couple years old when Mags and Avi adopt him. I, like Avi, know absolutely nothing about dogs, but [this is what Luna looks like.](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/bd/0e/0c/bd0e0cc497e9a6eb843768f87f7145b6.jpg)
> 
> if you like this you're welcome to drop me a line on twitter @jazfiute (and at my newly-minted if not terribly interesting writing account @deputyroswell !!) or on tumblr @pervincetosscobble, thanks for reading!


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